Be careful &&what you think - you may say it.&&what you say - you may do.&&what you do - may become a habit.&&Habits will become your legacy.

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hapakid

Junior UkeOffline

I love island music!

Posts: 81
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Gender:

Re: uke builder wantedReply #1 - Nov 22nd, 2004 at 7:24pm

Because your wood is in a solid block, you'll need to find a luthier with the equipment to resaw, plane and thickness sand the wood you already have. That eliminates many luthiers who depend on wood suppliers to sell ready-to-build wood sets. If you commission a well-known luthier, meaning ukes ranging from $900 and up, it might actually cost more because of the milling process. Perhaps an amateur or small-time builder might take this on. Good luck. It should turn out to be a beautiful instrument. Jesse TinsleyMaker of crude ukuleles

Be careful &&what you think - you may say it.&&what you say - you may do.&&what you do - may become a habit.&&Habits will become your legacy.

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hapakid

Junior UkeOffline

I love island music!

Posts: 81
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Gender:

Re: uke builder wantedReply #6 - Dec 4th, 2004 at 1:47pm

Hi William,I think someone here is worthy of the project, though most of us are beginners and aren't ready for a formal commission yet. I have built one soprano so far, but it was so overbuilt, it's virtually unplayable. It looks nice on my shelf. In some ways, the soprano is a more challenging instrument to build, even though it take small pieces of wood. The wood has to be thinner, more accurately finished and is more easily damaged by handling during building. I started building because, like you, I just wanted a decent uke to play that didn't cost me $300 or more. Now I've got $1000 in tools and several okay ukes to play, but I've also gained even more respect for skilled luthiers. Good luck finding the right builder for your project. Jesse Tinsley

You can also check with Michael DaSilva out of Oakland, CA (ukemaker.com). He makes some of the nicer sopranos I've seen. I used myrtle before on ukes 7 & 8 and it is really easy to work with. Bends easy, even with fiddleback figure. It's similar in density to koa, but with less open grain, so it is easier to finish. It looks a lot like mango in shades of gold, olive & grey instead of cream & brown. I'm sure if your piece is the right size, it can be made into a great uke. Good luck.

Hey william get in touch with Bruce at notable woods in oregon.He can point you in the right direction.Or contact dave means at glypn ukes but expect to wait.You gonna pay a heavy price for a custom made uke by any of the bigg guns.Heres a thought fly over and learn to build your own hana lima rules!Good luck buddy.

Thanks for posting your pics... Man, your quite talented...I especially was taken by your application of Sharks Teeth... hehe.. could be a dangerous venture to play one of those..

Also,

I too have some myrtle wood planks... I have determined to take them down Cali way to my Father-in-law who builds and has some connections with some guys that resaw and sand... Im not sure how much it will cost......but I guess Ill find out... I feel more comfortable with him as he knows the dimensions and all that is needed.. It would be hard to explain and get someone around here to to do it.. Im sure I wouldnt communicate it correctly and it would get messed up... and I dont want that wood to get wasted...Hope William was able to find some someone to help him out.. I know its been a couple of years on this post..

You might want to check out a meeting of the Salem Ukulele Strummers Association...they are off until September 10, but one of their members (Darryl Hanson) makes some nice ukes. He's a real nice guy and his contact info is on their site. He's built with myrtle before.